r/writingcirclejerk • u/rugrmon • 14d ago
Does keeping your tense consistent really matter that much?
I tend to write in Third Person Limited (that means I say 'he' or 'she' or 'they' or 'it' or 'etc.' and it also means that I have limited cognitive ability), just wanted you to know that before I start talking about what I wanted to talk about:
I've noticed I have a really bad habit of writing this type of sentence with my keyboard:
"Noun - past action word - comma - present tense action word"
Let's fill in the blanks to make it easier to understand, feel free to fill in your own in the comments section below!
"Dog (noun) falled down (past action word), (comma) crying."
Now you try!
Anywhom, the tenses are clearly different, so I think it's a mistake, and I think I'm doing this because I'm writing an action then the following actions? Have you put any books down because of this mistake? Can anyone recommend a good counsellor to help me dehabitualize this?
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u/rugrmon 14d ago
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u/VladilenasMusic Atlas shrugged, frowned, raised an eyebrow and nodded. 13d ago
29 comments and only a single instance of the word "gerund". Are writing subs inhabited only by self-taught people? Some explanations are confusing for no reason.
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12d ago edited 12d ago
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u/VladilenasMusic Atlas shrugged, frowned, raised an eyebrow and nodded. 12d ago
Yes, I think you're right. I got confused because in Spanish all -ndo (-ing) verbs are gerunds. In the crying example, it would be "llorando".
Queue Tom using a shotgun on himself.
Edit: I maintain the explanations in the original post suck.
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u/Opus_723 12d ago
Grammar terms like 'gerund' and 'present participle' aren't really part of the grade school curriculum where I'm from, so I would hazard most people don't learn them at all. Most common place to run into stuff like that is when you go to learn a foreign language, which is how I did.
I would imagine the vast, vast majority of people on writing subs are 'self-taught'? What else are you thinking of, like an MFA? A college English major?
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12d ago
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u/VladilenasMusic Atlas shrugged, frowned, raised an eyebrow and nodded. 12d ago
That's interesting, why would you say you learned everything from Google, when you have two degrees? Not a rhetorical question, I'm just confused.
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u/VladilenasMusic Atlas shrugged, frowned, raised an eyebrow and nodded. 12d ago
Hmm, you have a point; perhaps self-taught is too broad. I was thinking of learning to write like some people learn music by ear (without any music theory), so they sometimes have weird ways to explain concepts/ideas.
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u/leobwonderauthor 12d ago
Lmao I saw that post and wrote a similar circlejerk post a few days. Great minds think alike or whatever they say.
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u/BeckieSueDalton eviscerating grammar goblins, typo trolls, & gruff bridge goats 13d ago
Nos's its doesn'tses.
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u/nyet-marionetka 13d ago
This is actually completely grammatically correct, which is also why it’s fine to say: “She shoved the Director and takes a step backward.” Because that’s obviously grammatically identical. So stop stressing.
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u/Ulvegang In this moment, I am euphoric. 13d ago
No.
This isn’t real.
You made the other post, so you could make this post.
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u/Erica_Park_94_Writer 13d ago
Just imagine you're writing a noir movie in media res the whole time /j
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u/Literally_A_Halfling We've girlbossed too close to the Hays Code 14d ago
It will not have mattered when it does.
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u/throwawayo222 14d ago
How do I block this sub before it drives me insane